Pothole repairs remain a priority in Stoke-on-Trent

Highways officers in Stoke-on-Trent have pledged to repair every pothole reported to them within 24 hours.

The City Council, which is set to spend an extra £600,000 on road repairs, is planning to revive the ‘next day’ repair service within the next six months.

The local authority is also recruiting 13 full-time staff to carry out highway repairs and maintenance works.

Speaking to The Sentinel, Malcolm Dawson, the council’s strategic manager for roads and highways, said: “Potholes are a problem for local authorities all over the country. The combination of freezing winters and wet summers has had a real impact on the roads and we’ve got a big backlog of incidents.

“Our aim is to get back to a situation where we are fixing any reported potholes the day after we are made aware of them.”

He added: “Highways workers across the country used to deal with potholes by dumping cement in the holes and driving off again. It was an ineffective, temporary solution which meant more time and money was spent fixing them again later on.

“But in 2010, 94% of potholes in Stoke-on-Trent were filled with a permanent repair method. Now we can say that 95% of all potholes will be fixed permanently.”

The council last year repaired 6,859 potholes on Stoke-on-Trent’s roads at a cost of £454,694 after receiving 8,735 complaints.